One photo, no words.

Funny and Crafty

I love making little stories for my felt creatures, there's something about it that makes me smile.  This one is no exception.

Errr, guys... all the teacakes are gone.


Bagsie a shirt!  I want a hat!


Think we can fool her if we all sit in the box?


Quick, grab those sheep, the might look like an uneaten teacake!


Baaaa!

No teacakes here, just us in our cool outfits!

baaaa!

(Unfortunately for them, I was not fooled)

I've been crafty too.  Been wanting to make a rice bag type thing for needle felting as a lot of folks find it better than foam and my piece of foam is getting a bit used in places.  But with mice randomly checking for tidbits and a dog who can find food easier than she can find the living room, using rice was not going to work.  I asked on Ravelry and someone mentioned the plastic stuff that's used to weight down dolls and stuffed toys.  Little EBay hunt later and I had some recycled plastic pellets on the way.

Last night I got out the hessian I'd bought yonks ago and made a not-rice bag!


Yes, it fits in a Tunnocks teacake box.  I've also ordered myself a nice wooden box for my needle felting stuff, the cardboard box I have is getting more and more bashed and isn't really deep enough for a work in progress.  Plus, the box is unfinished so I can decorate it!

Remember the blanket I started in October last year?  The one with the diagonally striped squares?  Finally finished it last week.  Yesterday I washed it and it was hung out to be breezed and dried the Tiree way.



I admit to thinking I am NEVER knitting that pattern again, but I did LOVE the recipient's reaction.  It may have been late, but the timing was perfect.  It's now with its new owner who is very happy indeed.


I shall leave you with this photo of a bovine who should not be where she is.


TTFN

P.S. Yes, we BBQ'd!  Three days in a row of sunshine has been WONDERFUL!

Tea Cakes

Oooh!  OooooOOOOooh!  She found teacakes!  Weesus and Small favourites!



Maybe we can sneak a bit without her noticing?  just a little nibble?



Omnomnomscoffnomnomscoffscoff

Oops...


Maybe if we reshape the foil she won't notice and think the wrapper was empty all along?



Nope, that's not going to work. Maybe if I make a skirt from it she'll think she never got one out?


Hi!  Do you like my skirt?  Does it say Teacake?  You had one out ready to eat?  Really?  Maybe the dog ate it and the foil?



(Weesus, Mike and Otter are lacking King Norty's skills)

Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty.

That's the current photo and video count on my Nikon. I have `now overtaken the Kodak that stood at 6431. I've had the Nikon a third of the time. I might be able to claim “Nutter with a shutter” status now.

Jo and I went to Oban this past weekend. His parents were doing their tour of the children and the country. As we were to leave on the Saturday boat and return on the Tuesday evening ferry we thought to contact a cycle shop in Oban to get the trike serviced. We had all the parts, but it is nicer for someone who's done this for a while to do it. So on Saturday I got the bus and Jo set off with the trike.

We had the Clansman out and back.

It came in to Tiree very light.

Positively swung round the turn to dock.

It was rather a mixed day weather-wise; consistent wind but inconsistent precipitation. Sun, rain, snow, hail, sleet, we saw it all in an hour. But the sea was fairly calm and it was a very pleasant sail over. I got a bit of knitting done and had a nice doze, Jo read most of a book.

Once in Oban it was damp. Not outright pouring it down, just constant mizzle with the odd bit of rain. The Clansman had apparently had a bit of a knock to her paintwork below water level.

Jo and the other cyclists had to wait for the cars to disembark, including those on the mezzanine deck, so his parents and I had a bit of a wait for him. But unlike boarding, I got to photograph the trike leaving the ferry. In this case alongside a kayak with it's own little wheels.

We trotted round to the entrance to the flat building and I took the bags up with Jo's parents while he took the trike to the shop. It is a lovely flat and I was so relaxed up there I completely forgot to photograph the view! It was very close to the train station and above the bus stops so we got to spend a fair bit of time watching folk coming and going, including Jo coming back with the trike!

Turned out that the shop had closed early (we don't know why, perhaps an emergency) and they weren't answering the phone either. So Jo and his Mum found it a good place in the car park and we all went shopping to Tesco where Jo purchased two extra bike locks. The trike can easily be moved if you know how unless you add an extra lock or two.

Jo had left his mobile on the ferry, this caused a very amusing scene when it was announced and suddenly everyone on deck did the "have I got mine? dance", caused Jo's parents to laugh on the shoreside.  Before we went shopping we trotted to the ferry office to reclaim it.  I saw this basket of crabs outside a van offering fresh cooked treats:

They are alive.  I was surprised they hadn't made a bid for freedom!  Upon picking one up (a lad watching me jumped back just in case it attacked him) I found out they were very sluggish and grumpy.  Quite hefty critters too.

Sunday the family went to church and I took a wander. I didn't know at that point that there were two sets of keys so I made a mad dash back when I noticed the churches had cleared out only to find them all happily settled. Oh well. That afternoon we went to Curachan, the hollow mountain.

Curachan was the first reversible pump/generator station in the UK, possibly the world (I can't remember) and is 90% efficient, not bad at all! You can't take cameras or bags inside which is actually a nice break. The tour guide and her “glamourous driver” were great and full of enthusiasm even on the last tour of the day. It truly is worth a visit I think, even if all you do is admire the loch.

On Monday we took a footpath in the direction of Dunollie castle. At the end of the paved bit you could either go up to the castle, up into the forest or back the way you'd come. Jo and his Dad went adventuring up into the forest and to the summit of the hill there, his Mum and I decided to walk back. I then went shopping. 

Loved this painting for the seal colony cruise:

I had a list of bits I could only really get on the mainland and that couldn't come by mail without adding extra instructions like “surface mail only”. I had a pretty good explore and satisfied my yarn cravings with a visit to the two yarn shops. Didn't spend a fortune this time either. I even found a new pair of trainers and some snow boots that are waterproof to over the foot. I am prepared for next winter.

Tuesday morning we went to Aldi, Lidl, Homebase and Tesco. Just getting various bits and some fresh stuff to bring home. We got a giant tarpaulin too which we used to wrap up all the shopping and Jo's rucksack in the basket of the trike. The weather forecast said it was going to be Wet on Tiree and it wasn't kidding!

The journey home was a little rougher but while the stabilisers were out it was perfectly fine. The view was rather...monochromatic?

Now then, here's a conundrum for you: What do you do if your phone battery is dead and the only socket available is 7ft off the floor?  The phone won't balance on the poster frames under the socket and the charger cable leaves the phone dangling precariously.

No ideas?  Well, other than the obvious wait until you get to your destination.

Use a detachable hood!

As for the weather at home, WET. Absolutely pouring with rain that had just enough wind to get under hat brims. By the time I got on the bus all I could see was huge water droplets on my glasses. We had planned to unload the trike onto the bus to save Jo effort but it really was too wet for that. So I rode back with two bags on the bus and Jo pedalled back with two crates, one coolbox, one rucksack and various extra bits all wrapped in a tarpaulin in the trike.

He's now outside drilling holes in the trike. But that's another post.

TTFN

Tiree Tech Wave 9

October will be the tenth tech wave!  Impressive.

So, what happened at this one?

Well, it was a relatively small gathering, about 14 or so and fairly quiet too, but definitely not lacking in the usual silliness!  Just yesterday we were marketing sanity EBay style and then corporate style and more.

Usually a tech wave runs from Thursday afternoon to Monday evening, with folk either flying or ferrying home on the Tuesday.  This time that went a tad awry.  First the weather was so bad that the ferry delayed and delayed and most of the folk didn't arrive until gone 7 Thursday evening.

So we started properly on Friday.

I spent most of Friday working on this strange bowling pin like thing:


After an hour and a bit it turned into a baby penguin:


Made Gromitty very happy.  Other than that I sort of circulated and people-watched.

Saturday was felting workshop day.  Lovefibre has been running these once a month and this time it coincided with the tech wave.  Five eager souls came to play with fibre, soap and water along with two islanders.

Lovefibre did a great job teaching them all and they all had a sample of wet felt that they had done in a little over an hour.




As the wavers finished their wet felt they came to me to try needle felt.  I handed everyone a wad of "Tiree lawnmower" fleece and a needle and told them the two rules:
1. Don't stab yourself too often
2. Enjoy and be creative

I worked on a new armature:




It got this far before I heard an idea and had to run with it.


Some of the items needle felted on Saturday included a conductive ball and a rather fabulous mustache.



The tech wave folks were trying to incorporate tech into fabric.  What a fab idea!  One suggested the idea of a bug or butterfly head or similar that would light up when it was placed on an apron or similar.  I was suddenly hooked.  I spent the rest of that day making a ladybird with LED eyes and two needle felted conductive fibre pads on its underside.  That evening I borrowed the tech wave Lilypad kit and made a leaf for it to sit on.

It ended up a tad demonic.


The issue with this little bug is that it only works one way.  LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) light up one way and stop nearly all current the other.  So, for someone who maybe has a bit of a memory issue it could be frustrating, especially as leaves don't have fronts and backs.

Sunday was a quiet day, delicious carvery from Cobbled Cow and thoughts lazily floating around.  I went to work on a flower to hold the battery holder.  The flower was rather likened to those that eat things, oh well, it goes well with demonic ladybird!


Monday was the last day (or so we thought) so I worked away to make a caterpillar that lit up no matter which way it faced.  I learned some things doing this.  Red and yellow LEDs are far less demanding than green and blue and a single 3V cell can only manage to get three LEDs going at once if they are red and/or yellow, but not blue or green.  This is partly due to the relatively huge resistances found in conductive fibre and thread vs. wire and solder.  Wiring up the caterpillar took as long as making it!



I still had time after that so I added some pink LEDs to the flower for the final demonic look.





Lots of jokes were made about having it in your bedroom and then finding the bug on your duvet infront of you, still glowing and saying it was going to devour you.  Much silliness!

I seem to have inadvertantly set myself the challenge of getting a photo of bearded Steve looking lost while something else is happening.  This tech wave was no different.


That evening we all dined at The Lodge, fab food!  Alan did his usual speech, at the speed that cameras cannot catch.


We all enjoyed the evening and chatting.  Two Steves had the fish that came with a little dish of peas, silliness took over and they did "pea shots" akin to tequila shots, including the lemon and salt.  Highly entertaining.

By Monday evening the ferry had been cancelled, 18ft swell combined with wind speed and direction meant it wouldn't be safe or able to dock.  Tech wave extended!  Fortunately everyone who needed to was able to extend their accommodation time so no couches were required.

Tuesday was a bit...off.  No one had expected the extension and so we had all raced to finish things on Monday.  The time was still passed and things were done.  I spent the time between browsing pinterest for needle felt ideas and finishing an embroidered item for my Dad's birthday.  Folk were either full of energy or looking a little tired.

Wednesday really was the last day.  The morning and early afternoon we all gathered again and did things.  Alan and Ed did a recital of "I'm a little teapot", I got their expressions at the end.



I borrowed the elephant I made for Lovefibre and finished my baby elephant.




Come 3pm the visitors went to do the "tourist" thing and we locals sat for a while just getting on with things.


That was Tiree Tech Wave Nine.  I'm going to have to start adding tags to my posts, that way I can find the previous TTW ones without hunting through three years of blogging.  Hope you enjoyed and I hope the ferry sails today!

TTFN